javljati / javiti (to inform / let know / announce) | Croatian Grammar

This page is about the non-reflexive, transitive javiti — the one that means "let someone know, inform, announce". It has a famous reflexive sibling, javiti se ("get in touch / respond / report in"), which lives on its own page; if you want "I'll be in touch" or "answer the phone", go to javljati se / javiti se. Here the verb is about passing a message to someone: you tell a person (dative) some news — usually packaged as a da-clause (Javi mu da kasnim "Tell him I'm late") or, less often, an accusative noun (Javili su rezultate "They announced the results"). The everyday short form Javit ću ti ("I'll let you know") is the phrase you will use constantly.

Aspect

Verb	Aspect	Present 1sg	Typical use
javiti	perfective	javim	deliver one message; let know (once)
javljati	imperfective	javljam	keep informing; report repeatedly; broadcast

The split is the ordinary perfective/imperfective one. Javiti = pass the message once and you're done: Javit ću ti čim saznam ("I'll let you know the moment I find out"). Javljati = report repeatedly, or "be reporting" — the verb the news uses: Mediji javljaju o nesreći ("The media are reporting on the accident"). Note the imperfective stem javlja- carries the v → vlj jotation (the same change you meet in postaviti → postavljati). The aspect system behind this is laid out at aspect overview.

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The litmus test for THIS page vs the reflexive one: if you can add an English direct object of information — "let him know that…", "announce the results" — you want plain javiti (+ dative person). If the sentence is "get in touch / respond / answer", you want javiti se with the obligatory se.

Present tense

Javiti is a clean i-class verb (stem jav-, theme vowel -i-); javljati is a regular a-class verb on the jotated stem.

Person	javiti (pf)	javljati (impf)
ja	javim	javljam
ti	javiš	javljaš
on/ona/ono	javi	javlja
mi	javimo	javljamo
vi	javite	javljate
oni/one/ona	jave	javljaju

The perfective present javim is not a "now" form — it lives in subordinate and future-flavoured clauses: Čim saznam, javim ti ("As soon as I find out, I'll let you know"). For the present-moment broadcasting you use the imperfective javljaju.

Na vijestima javljaju da će sutra padati snijeg.

The news is reporting that it'll snow tomorrow. — ongoing broadcast, imperfective.

Čim mi potvrde termin, javim ti datum.

As soon as they confirm the slot, I'll let you know the date. — perfective present in an 'as soon as' clause.

The l-participle

Regular for both members; the masculine singular vocalises the -l to -o.

Gender / number	javiti (pf)	javljati (impf)
masculine singular	javio	javljao
feminine singular	javila	javljala
neuter singular	javilo	javljalo
masculine plural	javili	javljali
feminine plural	javile	javljale
neuter plural	javila	javljala

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + l-participle. The everyday "I let (someone) know" is the perfective javio sam; the imperfective javljao sam marks repetition ("I kept telling / I used to report").

Person	Masculine subject	Feminine subject
ja	javio sam	javila sam
ti	javio si	javila si
on / ona	javio je	javila je
mi	javili smo	javile smo
vi	javili ste	javile ste
oni / one	javili su	javile su

With a dative person, the cluster orders auxiliary – dative: javio sam mu ("I told him").

Javila sam roditeljima da sam sigurno stigla.

I let my parents know I'd arrived safely. — perfective + dative 'roditeljima' + da-clause.

Bolnica je obitelji javila tužnu vijest.

The hospital broke the sad news to the family. — accusative thing 'vijest' + dative 'obitelji'.

Future I (futur prvi)

The infinitive javiti drops its final -i before the ću-clitics: written javit ću. This is the workhorse form: Javit ću ti ("I'll let you know").

Person	javiti (pf)	javljati (impf)
ja	javit ću	javljat ću
ti	javit ćeš	javljat ćeš
on/ona/ono	javit će	javljat će
mi	javit ćemo	javljat ćemo
vi	javit ćete	javljat ćete
oni/one/ona	javit će	javljat će

With a dative person the cluster is javit ću ti ("I'll let you know"). Note the contrast with the reflexive: javit ću ti = "I'll tell you (the news)"; javit ću ti se = "I'll get in touch with you".

Javit ću ti čim dobijem rezultate nalaza.

I'll let you know the moment I get my test results.

Imperative

The perfective javi! ("let [them] know!") is the normal command; the imperfective javljaj! asks for repeated updates ("keep me posted").

Person	javiti (pf)	javljati (impf)
ti	javi	javljaj
mi	javimo	javljajmo
vi	javite	javljajte

Javi mu da kasnim deset minuta, molim te.

Tell him I'm running ten minutes late, please. — perfective imperative + dative 'mu' + da-clause.

Javljaj nam kako napreduje, makar kratku poruku.

Keep us posted on how it's going, even just a short message. — imperfective: repeated updates.

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

bih-clitics + l-participle — for polite or softened phrasing.

Person	javiti (masc.)
ja	javio bih
ti	javio bi
on/ona/ono	javio/javila/javilo bi
mi	javili bismo
vi	javili biste
oni/one/ona	javili bi

Javio bih ti odmah da imam ikakvu novost.

I'd let you know right away if I had any news at all.

Other forms

Passive participle: javljen, javljena, javljeno ("announced, reported"). The -lj- is the labial jotation again (jav- → javlj-). It is more common in the impersonal javljeno je ("it was announced / word came that…") than as an attributive adjective.
Verbal adverb: imperfective javljajući ("[while] reporting"). The perfective has no present adverb (perfectives never do).

Službeno je javljeno da je sastanak odgođen za petak.

It was officially announced that the meeting is postponed to Friday. — impersonal passive 'javljeno je' (formal).

Key uses and government

1. javiti + dative person + da-clause — "let someone know that…"

The central pattern: dative for the person told, plus a da-clause carrying the message. This is the dative of the recipient — see the dative with verbs. English uses a direct object here ("tell him"), so the dative is the thing to retrain. For why the message is a da-clause rather than an infinitive, see da vs the infinitive.

Javi šefici da neću stići na sastanak.

Let the boss know I won't make the meeting. — dative 'šefici' + da-clause.

Nitko mi nije javio da je termin pomaknut.

Nobody let me know the appointment had been moved. — dative 'mi' + da-clause.

2. javiti + dative + accusative thing — "announce / report something to someone"

When the message is a noun rather than a clause, it goes in the accusative, with the recipient still in the dative: javiti nekome vijest / rezultate / odluku.

Komisija će kandidatima javiti rezultate u ponedjeljak.

The committee will announce the results to the candidates on Monday.

3. javljati — "report (in the media), broadcast"

The imperfective javljati is the journalism verb: outlets javljaju (report) the news, often with o + locative for the topic, or a da-clause.

Reporter uživo javlja s mjesta događaja.

The reporter is reporting live from the scene. — broadcasting sense.

4. The crucial contrast: javiti vs javiti se

Drop the se and you change the meaning entirely. javiti (komu) (što) = "inform someone (of something)" — there is a message and a recipient. javiti se (komu) = "get in touch / respond / answer" — there is contact, not content. Javi mu! = "Tell him!" (he is the recipient of news). Javi mu se! = "Get in touch with him!" Full treatment of the reflexive at javljati se / javiti se.

Javi mu da dolazimo, pa neka nam se javi ako mu ne odgovara.

Let him know we're coming, and have him get in touch if it doesn't suit him. — both verbs in one sentence: transitive 'javi mu' then reflexive 'javi se'.

Common Mistakes

❌ Javi ga da kasnim.

Wrong case — the person you inform is dative, not accusative; 'ga' (acc.) must be 'mu' (dat.).

✅ Javi mu da kasnim.

Tell him I'm running late.

❌ Javit ću ti se da je sastanak otkazan.

Wrong verb — with a message ('that the meeting is cancelled') you want transitive 'javiti', no 'se'. The 'se' version means 'get in touch', which doesn't take a message.

✅ Javit ću ti da je sastanak otkazan.

I'll let you know the meeting is cancelled.

❌ Javio sam mu kasniti.

Wrong complement — the message is a da-clause, not a bare infinitive: 'javio sam mu da kasnim'.

✅ Javio sam mu da kasnim.

I let him know I was running late.

❌ Javiti ću ti rezultate.

Spelling — the infinitive drops its -i before the clitic: 'javit ću', not 'javiti ću'.

✅ Javit ću ti rezultate.

I'll let you know the results.

❌ Mediji javiju o nesreći.

Wrong present — the imperfective 'javljati' has the present 'javljaju', not 'javiju'.

✅ Mediji javljaju o nesreći.

The media are reporting on the accident.

Key Takeaways

This is the transitive, non-reflexive javiti = "let know / inform / announce" — the message-passing verb. The reflexive javiti se ("get in touch") is a separate page.
Government: dative person + da-clause (Javi mu da kasnim) or + accusative thing (javiti rezultate).
The everyday short form is Javit ću ti ("I'll let you know") — contrast javit ću ti se ("I'll get in touch").
javljati is also the media's "report / broadcast" verb (Mediji javljaju da…); note the v → vlj jotation in the stem.
Future drops -i: javit ću (never javiti ću); passive participle javljen (impersonal javljeno je).

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